The central clock is a very handsome one of mahogany, with a carved case. The ornament on the top is an eagle, and the posts are leaves bound with a rope. The face of Washington painted on the glass is much better than those portraits usually are, and loses much in the reproduction. This clock was made by Ephraim Downs, of Bristol, Conn. The clock on the left, made by Chauncey Ives, is also a Bristol one, for Connecticut early obtained and has always retained an eminence in the clock business. It has an ornamental case with handsomely carved pineapples on top, and a swan-necked cornice. The one on the right, with claw feet, has a very handsome decoration of painted patterns on a black ground. On the inner part of the case is pasted a paper which reads as follows: "PATENT CLOCKS PATENTED BY ELI TERRY AND MADE AND SOLD BY SETH THOMAS PLYMOUTH MASS. WARRANTED IF WELL USED." The faces of all three are painted on tin, the two Bristol clocks having ornamentation of gold in the corners. These clocks all date from 1815-20, but the one by Seth Thomas may be a trifle earlier. A more modern clock than any of the foregoing, yet one of interest, nevertheless, is one in the commandant's office in the Navy Yard, Brooklyn. This old clock, which, although fifty-four years old, is not only in good running order, but practically furnishes the official time for the yard, occupies a prominent position in the outer office of Rear-Admiral Barker's suite. Its dial is about the same size as those seen in the clocks of to-day that keep the official time, but it is operated by a spring instead of weights. Its mahogany case is handsomely carved, and its brass hands shine in a way that shows the care that it receives. The following inscription, revealing the age of the clock, appears on the case: PRESENTED TO THE U. S. FRIGATE BRANDYWINE, BY THE CREW, 1849. No one in the yard knows how the old clock got there,--it probably drifted there, as have so many other waifs and strays. At noon every day it is set by official time received from the Naval Observatory in Washington, and most of the other clocks in the yard depend upon this reliable time-piece which has come down from the frigate "Brandywine." The collecting of clocks is a fad which few people indulge in. Yet there are those who own ten or a dozen timepieces, and who like to have them in running order. The old Dutch clocks, while looking very well, are notoriously ill-regulated time-keepers. A collector took a prize lately acquired to an old German clock-repairer who seemed more learned in the ways of ancient clocks than many a more pretentious maker. The clock did not come home when it was promised, and the owner went to see what was the matter. She found her old clockmaker diligently studying a little German volume with a title which read something like this, "Thirteen Hundred Reasons why a Clock in Perfect Order Won't Run." CHAPTER X. HANDLES, FEET, STUFFS, ETC.